IMO's Net-Zero Framework program for global shipping fails to gain approval

The BBC reports that a meeting of more than 100 countries in London on Friday failed to reach approval on the International Maritime Organization's Net-Zero Framework for global shipping after opposition from the US, Saudi Arabia, and Russia. The London meeting had been planned to formally approve the framework, a draft of which was passed in April 2025 at the Marine Environment Protection Committee's 83 session (MEPC 83). The IMO regulations would have gone into effect in 2028 and set mandatory fuel standards and a global pricing mechanism for emissions for ocean-going ships over 5,000 gross tonnage. The delay means that the regulations will not be implemented as written and will need to be re-negotiated at MEPC's next meeting in April 2026. The regulations have been in process since 1997.